


Ribbons and Romance

by SHSL_Fangirl



Category: Dangan, Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Danganronpa Secret Santa 2014, F/M, Jealousy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 09:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2845550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHSL_Fangirl/pseuds/SHSL_Fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mukuro Ikusaba has never received a Christmas present. That is, until Naegi decides to intervene.</p><p>[Danganronpa Secret Santa 2014]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ribbons and Romance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CrystalCyae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalCyae/gifts).



> Um, so, crystalcyae, I wasn't sure what you wanted. So I wrote you a fanfic! And then I wasn't sure what to write about, so I stuck with fluff, and I thought you might like a Christmas theme...
> 
> Anyway, Merry Christmas! I'm not sure this is any good, but I hope you like it anyway. I'd also love to hear from you, whether it's about this story or just because you want to~
> 
> (By the way, if the CrystalCyae on here isn't you, please let me know and I won't gift it to that account)

Mukuro Ikusaba had never received a Christmas present. Or any present, for that matter.

Well, unless you counted the cheap little gift that Junko gave her every year, like a $20 voucher for a clothing store– “I’m so generous, aren’t I, sis? You probably wouldn’t know how to use it anyway, but you had such terrible fashion sense that I just _had_ to step in.”

Mukuro knew it was just a formality, but she felt thankful all the same. It was all that she deserved. And she felt as lucky as she should have.

But no matter how she tried, somewhere deep within her stone-cold heart, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of longing whenever she saw people unwrapping enough presents to sink a ship.

Which was everywhere, of course; Christmas was, with little debate, the most significant holiday of the year. In every street, in every public place, in every house, on every TV and every radio, people were singing those dorky carols that both she, and particularly Junko hated, tearing into brightly-coloured paper. Strolling hand-in-hand through the streets, gazing at all the pretty lights and decorations that seemed to occupy every possible space. Laughing with friends and family at gatherings with tables full of every imaginable kind of food. Having fun. Everyone was having fun except her.

Until Naegi decided to change that.

It was Christmas night and everyone, Mukuro included, was at Sonia’s annual Christmas party. She knew Junko didn’t really want her there; after all, she was just a plain girl with the social grace of a potato whose only talents lay in warfare and bloodshed. Someone like her hardly belonged next to Junko Enoshima, SHSL Fashionista, the picture of perfection, whom all the boys wanted and all the girls envied. She knew she was just dragging her sister down.

But Mukuro had been invited year after year, and even Junko could only fabricate cover stories for so long before it all seemed too suspicious.

And so it was that she attended the party for the first time. She knew Junko could sense her growing anxiety, but to anyone else she would have seemed emotionless and in control as always.

Mukuro stood silently next to her sister on the doorstep of Sonia’s mansion of a home, so obviously expensive beyond her comprehension that it was actually intimidating. It actually looked like one of those castles you might see in a history book, largely composed of stone, towering above them imposingly. Junko extended a single long, perfectly-shaped red nail to press the doorbell.

Footsteps sounded from inside moments later, and Junko gave her a not-so-subtle nudge. She knew what that meant. _“Don’t screw this up, ‘kay, sis? I’m counting on you.”_ She could practically hear Junko whispering the words directly into her mind.

Her resolve hardened. She would not embarrass her sister with her own ineptitude and lack of compelling traits. Certainly not in front of all these people.

The door opened, and one of Sonia’s servants escorted them through a maze of elaborately decorated, lavish rooms to one that resembled a royal version of the Rec Room at Hope’s Peak Academy. It was so massive that, had she not been staring directly at it, Mukuro would have been unable to fully comprehend its sheer size. It contained every conceivable source of entertainment; pool tables, chess sets, multiple excessively large, flat-screen televisions with all the latest gaming consoles plugged in. Books, magazines, tables crammed full of all kinds of expensive-looking food, and so many other things that Mukuro couldn’t put names to. There was even an old Pac-Man machine in the corner–currently in use by Nanami, of course.

Christmas decorations of every imaginable kind filled the room; a tree that was colossal in size, tinsel strewn everywhere, baubles, light-based decorations. Holly wreaths, lengths of glittering lights, assorted Christmas decorations, many featuring Santa, reindeer, and snowmen.

Sonia greeted them warmly when they entered. Most of the others had already arrived some time beforehand–Junko was very much the ‘fashionably late’ type and, by extension, so was Mukuro.

As she exchanged pleasantries and ‘Merry Christmases’ with her fellow students, Mukuro tried her best to exude politeness and confidence without falling back on Junko’s persona too much. Judging by the subtle wink Junko sent her way, she was doing an acceptable job as ‘the gorgeous model’s big sister’. And that was enough for her.

She saw Naegi on the other side of the room, engaged in lively (on his end) conversation with Kirigiri. For some reason this made her insides twist painfully, and she resolved to avoid looking at ~~him~~ them for the rest of the night. Now was not the time to dwell on her own issues, not with Junko shooting meaningful glances between Naegi and herself, a little curve to her mouth that made her amusement obvious (at least to Mukuro).

A few hours later, she was exhausted. She had never liked parties in the first place–they were Junko’s playing field–but keeping up appearances took far more effort than she had imagined.

When there was a break in her conversation with Pekoyama about sword-based combat, she quickly excused herself and retreated to the spacious balcony that connected to the room everyone was currently occupying. It was similarly adorned with bright, colourful Christmas decorations–tinsel, clusters of silver bells, holly wreaths, baubles, ribbons, lengths of bright lights. It was cool and quiet, the crisp night air blowing her hair back as she watched the snowflakes fall in silence and just _breathed_.

Immersing herself in the party hadn’t improved her mood at all, but it wasn’t as though it had ever helped before.

She had always been painfully aware of just how many female friends Naegi had, particularly Kirigiri and Maizono; he was friends with everyone, after all. Even Junko was fond of him, to some degree. But it somehow burned more when they were outside of school, when they were spending time with each other just because they wanted to. It wasn’t out of obligation or simply to curb their boredom during the long school hours. They had a genuine bond. They were true friends, and quite possibly more, for all she knew.

She didn’t know why that stung so much.

Ever the vigilant soldier, when soft footsteps sounded on the stone of the balcony behind her, Mukuro noticed immediately. She turned around and could hardly believe what she saw.

Makoto Naegi was standing in the doorway, a sheepish grin on his face. _For her. That adorable smile was all hers._ His hand played at the collar of his hoodie distractedly, and when her eyes met his, they lit up so brightly that they put the extravagant light decorations to shame.

She didn’t let her happiness show on her face and simply watched him as he slowly approached her.

“Ikusaba-san,” he greeted her, cheerful as ever. It was contagious, and she couldn’t help but give a tiny smile of her own in response.

“So, what do you think of the party? Fun, right? I still can’t get over how huge Sonia-san’s house is.”

Mukuro nodded politely at regular intervals while he talked and made the occasional comment of her own here and there. Naegi knew she wasn’t very good at conversation, but she liked listening to him nonetheless, no matter what he was talking about. He didn’t mind doing the talking for her, and she didn’t mind doing the listening, so it worked. She was just happy that he wanted to spend time with her, despite her dull personality.

“Um, Ikusaba-san?” She glanced back at him in time to see him produce a small black box decorated prettily with blue ribbon. Her heart did a double-take.

“I got this for you. I hope you like it?” His nervousness was plain in the the pink lightly dusting his cheeks, and the way his voice trailed into a question at the end. He held the box out to her. In a daze, she took it, staring at it dumbfoundedly. _This couldn’t really be…?_

How long that moment lasted, she wasn’t sure. But then Naegi spoke her name again quietly, and when she looked up his face was startlingly close to hers.

Slowly, cautiously, so as to give her a chance to refuse like the perpetual nice guy he was, Naegi leaned up on his tiptoes and pressed his lips to her cheek in a quick, soft kiss. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered in her ear, his face burning.

And then he left her, with flushed cheeks and his gift still clutched tightly in her hand, and she felt as though she might burst into flames at any moment. She didn’t know what the bubbly feeling in her chest was, exactly, but she wanted it and dreaded it all at once.

Her gaze returned to the box. She took another moment to just look at it, all hand-crafted beauty and subtlety. All _hers_. Then she tugged delicately at the carefully-tied ribbon, as though afraid she might break it. It pulled free smoothly, easily, and she took a quick breath before lifting the lid of the box…

It was a silver charm bracelet, simple but beautiful, with six small silver charms: a dagger, a wolf _exactly_ like the one on her Fenrir tattoo, a bunny, an ’M' and an ‘I’ set with black rhinestones, and…a heart. With ‘Love, Naegi’ carved into the back.

Mukuro had been on countless shopping trips with Junko to carry all the bags she somehow managed to acquire, and jewellery stores were included in the numerous places she frequented. She had seen all kinds of jewellery, charms of all shapes and sizes, but never any like the ones on the bracelet Naegi had just given her. He must have gone to a lot of trouble to find it. It might have even been custom-made.

_Her bracelet. Her first real present, and it was from Naegi._

As she was unused to wearing jewellery, it took her a while to fasten the bracelet on her wrist. It fit perfectly, she noted, and held up her wrist to admire it.

It really was beautiful. And it suited her perfectly.

Her gaze lingered on the heart, on the words engraved there, and something clicked into place. She remembered something Junko had said once, something about the way she always looked at him with such forlorn longing in her eyes. And at that moment she finally realised it.

The strange feeling in her chest when she was around Naegi. The sadness that threatened to overtake her when he was with another girl. The blush that even he, stone-faced Mukuro, couldn’t seem to shake when she thought of his voice, his face, his smile. She should have known what Junko had been hinting at all along.

She was in love with Makoto Naegi.


End file.
